The eyes still glisten with enthusiasm, but the bags under them are dark and pronounced, the side-effects of sleepless nights spent fretting over a newly acquired responsibility. Like an exhausted new father with a screaming baby, Gianfranco Zola has quickly discovered that, having looked forward to the moment he was given control of a Premier League side, the reality, while rewarding, has proven far more wearing than he imagined.

A 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough brought relief in that it ended West Ham United's run of four successive defeats, but there was still enough frustration and concern to ensure another draining afternoon for their rookie Italian manager. Having dominated the first half and taken the lead through Hayden Mullins, the visitors were outplayed in the second and were clinging on for a point after the substitute Mido had scored Boro's equaliser with a low free-kick that went through a gap in the defensive wall.

Yet the Hammers still almost snatched their first win for more than a month when in stoppage time Middlesbrough's goalkeeper, Ross Turnbull, pulled off a wonderful double save to deny Lee Bowyer and Jack Collison.

No wonder Zola said he was tired as he reflected on a game that would have yielded three points had his team made the most of their chances before the break. "I have been in the job for a couple of months now and it has been tough," said Zola, who has already been made the favourite by some bookmakers to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job after a poor start at Upton Park. "Sometimes I think it feels more tiring to be on the bench than it is on the pitch. You are learning things all the time, picking things up and it is getting better and better in many, many aspects of the job.

"Is it harder than I thought? Well, it is hard, but at the same time I'm enjoying it. When I was player I thought it looked so easy. Absolutely. I can assure you I thought it was much easier than this."

Boro's manager, Gareth Southgate, will concur with that view. His side were supposedly full of confidence after a 2-0 win over Manchester City but were abject for spells and failed to produce a single attacking move of note in the first 45 minutes. They did improve after Southgate's half-time chat and the introduction of Julio Arca for the anonymous Didier Digard provided the impetus they needed in midfield to push West Ham backwards.

They gradually built up pressure and should have been level four minutes before Mido struck, but Justin Hoyte's diving header was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Yet they still needed Turnbull's late heroics to take their share of the points. Southgate described the save as "phenomenal" and tipped the 23-year-old academy graduate for international recognition. "Ross has been excellent, he just needs to keep doing what he is doing and that [England] will take care of itself."